Michael Phelps Receives Shoutout in Fall Out Boy’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”

American swimmer Michael Phelps recently received a shoutout in a song produced by one of the most popular bands in the world right now. 

In their recent release, “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, an updated version of Billy Joel’s 1989 hit of the same name, American band Fall Out Boy gave the Olympic Champion a shoutout in the second verse. 

The band released their version of the song on June 28, updating the lyrics to reflect notable events and figures that have emerged since the original release of Joel’s version back in 1989, covering over 30 years of developments. 

Upon releasing the song, Fall Out Boy’s lead singer Patrick Stump wrote, “I thought about this song a lot when I was younger. All these important people and events- some that disappeared into the sands of time- others that changed the world forever. So much has happened in the span of the last 34 years- we felt like a little system update might be fun. “

Since its release, the lyric video for the song has been viewed more than 3.5 million times on YouTube and the song itself has been streamed more than 16.6 million times on Spotify. 

Listen to Fall Out Boy’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” Here: 

Phelps was one of several athletes mentioned in the song, which also recognized golfer Tiger Woods, tennis stars Venus Williams and Serena Williams, and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick

The inclusion of Phelps amongst these athletes is notable for the sport of swimming in multiple ways, showing the impact that the 28-time Olympic medalist has had upon the sport in the public eye. Over the course of his career, Phelps won 23 Olympic gold medals, the most all-time, and set numerous World Records. Even now, Phelps remains one of the most followed swimmers on social media, with 3.4 million followers on Instagram. 

Since retiring in 2016, Phelps has also become extremely notable outside of his efforts in the pool, sharing his own experiences with mental health struggles to help support the movement for mental health support in both the athletics community, and beyond. 

 

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Jamba Juice drinker 49
1 year ago

One of the 5 athletes mentioned is not like the other

Atohitotsu
Reply to  Jamba Juice drinker 49
1 year ago

Yup MP is the only one who isn’t from California.

iLikePsych
1 year ago

It’s at 1:30 in the song

Kinda seemingly random placement though

LBSWIM
1 year ago

Meh. I prefer how Billy did it in chronological order. This just seems like word p0rn finding things to rhyme.

cynthia curran
1 year ago

The Billy Joel show it was Mickey Mantle and Joe Demaggio, California Baseball/ Well, Baseball wanted to make big bucks in the era when California housing was a lot cheaper and CA gain 6 million in the 1960’s. Its like Nevada today which gain the Oakland Raiders in Football. moving to Las Vegas Nevada.

theloniuspunk
1 year ago

Seems like they missed that the original version put the events ~chronologically.

Kyle White
1 year ago

Yeah but was he in an NLE Choppa video?

PhillyMark
1 year ago

My kids freaked because they heard Pokémon and SpongeBob in the song and now they can’t stop listening to it

Dolphinbottle88
1 year ago

I’m sorry, but I cannot listen to that song again. I skipped through it once, didn’t hear anything about Phelps, and there is no way is hell I am listening to that again.

IU Swammer
Reply to  Dolphinbottle88
1 year ago

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About Nicole Miller

Nicole Miller

Nicole has been with SwimSwam since April 2020, as both a reporter and social media contributor. Prior to joining the SwimSwam platform, Nicole also managed a successful Instagram platform, amassing over 20,000 followers. Currently, Nicole is pursuing her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. After competing for the swim …

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